a writer monkey on the loose!

I seem to be engaged in continuous writing assignments from my phrasebook that has been sent back for second stage editing to the Somalia features I'm doing for Africa News Tonight and more recently an article on the crisis in Somalia and its impact on the civilians for Common Ground news so I'm working almost an average of a 24 hour cycle! But I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I feel I'm getting more productive by the day and I have something to stick my creative teeth into. Last week was another hectic week at work. Apart from the hearing I was working on the Crossfire everyday as well as taking part in the coordination of the shows and producing my progams.
I particularly enjoyed doing Friday's Crossfire where I got two guys from Djibouti to debate whether light-skinned women who bleach their skin look better and should continue to bleach their skins or whether they should pay attention to the harmful consequences that arise from it and should therefore stick with their natural skin colours. They went to war, literally they were at each other's throat and it was hilarious!
My weekly review had a special focus on MJ's death this week with a selection of one of his songs. It's amazing, I still can't believe he is dead but I suppose C'est la vie!

Not that I have had much personal time to myself but I have developed a strong liking towards Ethiopian music as of late, both their male and female singers have tremendous voices that you can feel even if you're an outsider like myself who doesn't understand the language!

a much delayed greeting from down under

No, not Australia but burried under the overwhelming news that I'm frantically trying to keep up with. From Iran's volatile elections, refugee camps being flooded by Somalis to Michael Jackson's death and Somalia topping the list of failed states. I was covering a hearing on Thursday where Somali officials and experts briefed foreign commitee members on the state of affairs in Somalia. Though extremely long-winded and some people liking the sound of their voice a bit too much, it was an enlightening and to some a rude awakening of a hearing. I particularly liked UN special envoy Ahmedou Ould Abdallah's part that focused on the people's suffering and their plight whilst politicians, warlords and extremists keep fighting amongst each other for more power and wealth. There are more than 130,000 Somalis displaced within the country and millions are in need of food and water. The amount of orphans and street children that have nowhere to turn are on the increase. The death toll is rising by the minute. If something isn't done soon, Somalis might become a lost generation only known through history.

Summertime has officially started in DC which means my spirits are lifted. Looking forward to all the festivals and concerts due to take place over the summer. On a more personal note I have developed a serious liking towards Ethiopian music, I'm downloading them, buying their CDs, it seems I can't get enough though I don't understand a single word! Does that even make sense lol?

where did the week go?

Seriously this week just flew by but I'm not complaining, weekend is here! I'm particularly looking forward to this weekend as Africa month has started at the AFI cinema and I've missed several good films already. So Ill be making up this weekend. I'll also get to catch up with my books, which I have neglected for a bit. Oh guess what, I've finally bought a slick new phone, the samsung flip to be precise. I can now actually rejoin the world of texting and receiving phonecalls normally! I'm all giddied up :).

I'm homesick again,this time I'm not just missing my family but really missing England in general, you know the culture, daily life, social scene even my previous gym lol! But I'm making do with mashed potatoe, gravy and battered cod fish for dinner and Amy Winehouse! Guess that'll have to hold me till September. I cannot wait!

At work things are all up in the air. Attacks and severe violence have become common practice in Mogadishu. Today alone the Somali security minister died amongst many others in a targeted bomb attack fired by Al-Shabab. Displaced families including women and children are on the increase and there is hardly enough aid to even get close to covering their needs. It is really horrible.
On the other hand Iran's elections have sparked a blast of a riot amongst supporters of Mousavi, the main opposition leader and presidential candidate against Ahmedinejad. The counted votes indicated Ahmedinejad was re-elected but Mousavi claims the votes were rigged. We're watching how this unfolds but a recount should be due.
I'll be producing a new feature as of July called Diaspora instead of Science and Technology. It airs twice a week on top of the weekly review that airs Saturdays so I'm getting more fish to fry. God help my overworked soul! Looking forward to shaking things up though and getting really creative with it. Diaspora is such a vast pool of areas and angles to cover. It will allow the folks back home to get a good picture of how Somalis abroad really live instead of this myth they have in their head that we all live a life of luxury draining money from the walls!

post birthday shenanigans

I had a jam-packed blast of a week. I was covering events, coordinating programs, producing features but still managed to squeeze in splashes of birthday celebrations. My colleagues took me to lunch and my friends took me for strolls to explore the city.
Come Friday I was brain-drained and ready to drop into a sleepathon of a weekend. But my week has been highly productive. I woke up Saturday refreshed and rejuvenated and went to the office to finish off some scripts. I was listening to the broadcasts only to hear that the report I did on the last event had an MC intro of the previous event! I was at the top of my raging tiger game, I could not believe what I was hearing. The intro and the report had nothing to do with each other!! Sh## happens as they say but this was uncalled for.

To shake it off I went to see Hangover at the cinema and boy was that a good idea! My stomach muscles are still aching from laughing so much. I thought Friday was the most funniest film I had seen but this one topped it by far.

The highlight of my Sunday so far is a goofy new word that I have learned from a snickers bar lol; Nougatocity, which means 'a heightened yet fleeting state of accomplishment that makes you realise how unbelievably unmotivated you normally are.' Chocolate is trying to educate us, another great excuse to indulge with our hips' best friend.

inspiration strikes..

Since I've found my heaven on earth i.e. the local library, I've been reacquainted with my love for reading and as a result my fondness for writing has been rekindled. I was moved by a collection of 18th/19th century letters that literary people and slaves who were torn apart from their loved ones wrote to each other. It's amazing how technology has evolved and correspondence is much more instant nowadays but the decline of letter writing has somewhat removed the emotional effort that goes into human correspondence.
Though I'm not necessarily writing a collection emotional letters, I am however dabbling with my book again, which has been abandoned for donkeys'!
The poem below is a prelude to the first chapter, where the protagonist goes back to Africa to trace her East African roots. You might notice she has lost her mother...

'Hooyo'

As I close my eyes allowing memories of old to bring forth your presence

a euphoric feeling absorbs my soul

Your name is signed across my heart

Mother, my gracious mother

Your beauty is unforgettable

Your spirit is entwined with mine guiding me as I trace back to our native soil

I can smell her essence

Like a spread of pollen on a summer breeze

exhaling the fragrance of joy to the world

I can feel your hand holding my hand leading me to her warm embrace

She will welcome me with songs of praise and I will dance to the rhythms of Dhanto and Goobilo

We will enjoy feasts of fine rice and anjelo with delicious meat together

Somalia rejoices in my arrival like how you rejoiced in her arrival

I can hear you calling mother

Through her we shall be together once more

my friendly ghosts are back on the scene

The ones that open the lifts on my floor that is. I walked towards the lifts this morning and sure enough before I pressed to call for the lift, it pushed itself open!
My weekend has been a blast and a half. I spent most of Friday in the office getting the weekly review ready but had a brief moment to escape to go shopping. Saturday I cruised the town with a few friends in tow starting at 9th and U and moving on to the DC waterfront. After dinner we went to jam with a live band playing blues and jazz in the Mount Pleasant area. Still packed with energy we moved onto a club in Adams Morgan, where the craziest thing happened; I bumped into an old university friend of mine. How small is this world??!! It was good to see a familiar face (and to hear the good old North London accent!) though.
My Sunday was uber-chillaxed, spending most of it in bed and at the water-fountain park around my area. I did get a chance to go see my Greek ruin at the Gallery place cinema, which was hilarious. Couldn't have wished for a better birthday weekend.
I was knocked back down to reality from happyville at 3am this morning with my military alarm clock telling me to go work! the vicious cycle of the news continues.

research is never finished...

and therefore shouldn't be abandoned. It's amazing what one can stumble upon if a bit of virtual digging and frequent library visits cross borders. My local library back home in London was called the Marcus Garvey library, which I used to go to on a regular basis. However it never occurred to me to wonder who Marcus Garvey was until now. I met up with Howard's professor a few days ago and as we discussed African conflicts, literature and history, the name Marcus Garvey frequently came up in our conversation after which (as I do) I googled his name. I am baffled that I haven't come across Garvey much sooner given that I've always been interested in pan-Africanism and African history in general. From him I've stumbled onto Hubert Harrison and Duse Mohamed Ali hence research should never be abandoned! I continue to be intrigued..

moderate movers vs extremists

Who can come out on top in Islam? Is this what it has come down to? I am saddened to see this division when Islam strives to unify people to bring greater sense of peace and humanity to all mankind. Individual interpretation and activities have led to represent a whole religion that people all over the world follow.
I just watched a very interesting edition of CNN's common ground, where Ayan Hersi Ali and Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison had a hefty debate about whether moderate Muslims can defeat extremists or not. The truth of the matter is that most Muslims are ordinary, peaceful people who believe in humanity and kindness and strive to live their lives with those pillars in mind. These acts of extremism such as 9/11 and 7/7 in London are acts of a few misguided, negative individuals who are misusing the name of Islam. The prophet (saw) was a prime example of how humans should live and function in the communities they live in and by no means was suicide bombing or the killing of innocent people tolerated at that time nor is it tolerated today in the holy Koran.

Now that I got that off my chest, life is otherwise pretty good lately. I've finally dragged myself to the stationary department of CVS today to organise my paperwork mountain of a desk, filed everything in a findable order. Go me!
Have I mentioned I'm loving my new (isolated) desk area?

I'm seriously admiring my energy today. I spent most of last night at a friend's farewell gathering who was going back to West Africa. A good time and great conversations, to my detriment, led to me getting home at 1am and having to be at work for 6am. Surprisingly I haven't felt the need to fall off the rails yet!

scratching Ohio' surface

My weekend has been mostly spent on the road to and from Columbus, Ohio aka little Mogadishu! Somalis literally gather there like ants. To top it all I went on a day when they had a gathering at one of the local conference centres to discuss 'how to bring peace and stability' to Somalia. Go figure!

The highlight of the trip surprisingly was the trip itself, as in getting there and coming back. I forgot how much fun roadtrips were, especially when there's music and everyone is cracking jokes and generally just being silly. More of a personal highlight was the opportunity to see my father, who I hadn't seen for about 2 years and my uncles and cousins from my mum's side of the family. I hadn't seen them since 2003, which was the last time I visited Ohio.

I came back to DC and went straight to work, which has been ever-occurrent since then! I've managed to squeeze a French language course into my schedule. I was all giddied up when I saw the course on audio in my local library and they had all sorts of levels. I needed an intermediate one to build my level to a more advanced level so since then I've been doing the course at home and it is so much fun. It got to the point where I actually choose going home over socialising with my friends.
But my birthday weekend is around the corner though, so I suppose I'll have to peek out of my petit hole at some point!